Wednesday, March 29, 2017

It is hard to get a family portrait with my dogs.. is that too much to ask? Bud is always looking the other way. When I try and show him a toy to get his attention, he won't stop barking at me. He would rather play than pose. Jetta sure loved to pose. Gracie will sometimes pose. It is almost impossible to get a good picture of Bud and I together.His bark is deafening!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

I gave Gracie a raw carrot. What she did was take it outside and start munching on it. She was really having trouble with her missing teeth, but she got through it! I thought it was too cute. Bud on the other hand likes his carrots lightly steamed and seasoned and
cut up for him.. go figure. Who has spoiled dogs? not me..

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The other day while my helper and I were swimming Bud at Morro bay.. his favorite swimming place.. he once again tried to bully a dog. My helper Vanessa was luckily able to hold his leash tight enough to prevent him from jumping the small dog. The reason for this is first he is spoiled, secondly he is really over sensitive, third it is a dog thing. He wants to intimidate innocent dogs. He gets frustrated when he loses a ball at the bay and wants to take his frustration out and pounce on a dog and teach them a lesson. He has never hurt a dog but needs some serious training. When we got home I got the old shock collar out ( the one he used to be trained with when he would pull me over at the beach). He immediately went to his crate and hid.
This morning before he could have his food he had to have the collar put on, which he sure didn't like, but too bad. He has been barking more because of people in the street. When he started barking I told him no barking, he barked twice more and I zapped him (it's not a hard shock but enough to get his attention).. he came right in the house. This is really bad behavior and he will have the collar on for as long as it takes, especially when we are at the bay.
Dog training is repetition, patience and never stopping.. That's why trainers get $65 an hour! I get to have a well mannered dog that doesn't yap all the time.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Last week, by mistake I bumped Gracie with my scooter, and for several days she did not want to go with me walking or running. I know she did not get hurt, she didn't want to trust me. I waited until Vanessa, one of Gracie's favorite gals, could help me make her trust me and let me take her on walks again because they are fun. Gracie let me walk her after Vanessa hooked her up to the scooter and we all went to the beach together. We tried putting her in the scooter basket because we thought maybe she didn't want to walk, but she jumped out. She needs the exercise, it is good for dogs anyways. She is cranky when she doesn't get her exercise just like me. We took her bark collar off too.. I couldn't stand seeing her in pain. It is her breed to bark. She had fun. Bud always has fun with a ball or a stick. He loves digging huge holes in the sand.
I am working with Gracie to come to me when she hears the sound of a whistle. She was barking this morning, I blew the whistle and she came running in and went right to her crate without me telling her to. I told her she was a good girl and she wasn't in trouble.. I just want her to come when I blow the whistle. Another extraordinary thing happened on our walk yesterday.. on the way there we saw a calm old dog off the leash with a woman and Gracie was really interested in seeing the dog. When we passed the dog again on our way home, I asked the woman if it would be ok if Gracie tried to meet her dog. The dog off the leash did the circle sniff routine respectful dogs do (rather than going straight for the behind). When the dog went for a sniff of Gracie's behind, she just stood there! She is minding me and is much more calm around other dogs now. I still have to put her in her crate when new people come in the house, but she is making great progress.

Monday, March 6, 2017

If you see in the pictures where the dogs attention goes, you can see first hand how easy it is to get the dogs attention. When food is involved the dogs pay good attention and when the food is gone they chill out.. hoping for more. Food is a good way to help train your dog. Gracie is more easily trained with food.. Bud more so with toys.